Fiesta Bowl probe offers look at John Junker's excesses

For more than two decades, John Junker was the corporate face of the Fiesta Bowl.

During his tenure, Junker transformed the bowl into a major player in college football, but the bowl's chief executive had broad discretion in spending money from the four non-profits that run the bowl, according to a Fiesta Bowl Special Committee investigation. According to the bowl's investigative report:

- Junker's annual expense reimbursements from 2001 to 2010 ranged from a low of $241,089 to a high of $770,865. His average monthly expenses were $37,500. In December 2005, he rang up his highest monthly tab: $348,000.

- A review by investigators showed Junker was reimbursed $4.85 million for expenses over the decade from March 2001 to March 2011.

Of that, $132,355 was deemed to be "potentially personal," meaning "a clear or justifiable business purpose is not apparent" and it "directly benefited" Junker. An additional $227,849 was classified as "potentially inappropriate," meaning "a clear or justifiable business purpose is not apparent" and involved things like gifts for politicians, staff or others, and non-travel-related meals with staff.

And $2.26 million was classified "undetermined," meaning more information was needed to determine whether expenditures were appropriate. The remaining $2.23 million was classified as "potentially appropriate" expense reimbursements. Junker reviewed the statements analyzed by investigators and said, "I have come to the conclusion that I have conducted myself sensibly and responsibly."

- The Fiesta Bowl paid for four golf-course memberships for Junker: Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale (current cost: $10,800 a year); Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore. (current cost: $2,580 a year); Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix (current cost: $3,467 a year); and Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. (current cost: $2,078 a year).

Junker said the memberships were vital to his job. The Oregon membership "was made available to the Bowl after the Bowl hosted Oregon State at the Fiesta Bowl," the report says, noting that Junker has family in that area. Junker told investigators the Oklahoma membership was purchased at the suggestion of a former Big 12 commissioner "primarily to support Oklahoma State University golf" and show visible support for a Big 12 school.

The report notes that "none of the Fiesta Bowl board members and former board chairs with whom that matter was discussed was aware that Junker had four golf memberships, let alone that Fiesta Bowl paid for all four."

- Junker, his wife and several other top bowl executives were provided General Motors cars because GMC was a bowl sponsor. When that relationship ended in 2009, the report says, Junker received an $8,500 check from Fiesta Bowl as a down payment on a new car, and several other executives received lesser amounts for the same purpose.

Junker and his wife then continued to receive auto stipends. Junker's was $27,000 in 2009. Junker told the special committee investigating expenses that he and his wife were entitled to bowl-paid vehicles as part of his employment agreement, although former board chairmen dating to 2001 said they had no knowledge of that, "nor could they think of a business purpose for doing so."

- In March 2003, Junker attended a Celebrity Fight Night charity event, and credit-card charges totaling $110,000 were reimbursed by the bowl for the event and a bid on a golf date with Jack Nicklaus. Junker attended the golf date early the following year and billed his travel and expenses to the bowl. He recently told investigators the date was to be a foursome with Nicklaus for the Big 12 Conference commissioner, a Southeast Conference associate commissioner, and a Fiesta Bowl sponsor. Junker said he filled in for one of them at the last minute, adding that it was vital to improve relations between conference executives, the sponsor and the bowl.

- When Junker turned 50 in 2005, the Fiesta Bowl paid for his birthday party in Pebble Beach, Calif., apparently at the suggestion of then-board Chairman Mike Allen, although Allen told investigators he never saw nor approved a budget. A number of top bowl employees and their spouses attended the four-day event at bowl expense, including airfare. Total tab: $33,188.96.

- Since 2000, Junker took at least 27 trips where one or more members of his family traveled with him at Fiesta Bowl expense.

One in 2008 to Santa Barbara, Calif., and San Diego spanned 16 days and included his entire family, the report says. Junker explained to investigators, "Because I travel so much, it became a practice with the board chairs saying, 'John you make sure you take the opportunity to take your family on a couple of trips a year' and we extended the policy to the board chairs."

However, the report says the past nine board chairs were interviewed on the matter and "each one reported that he or she had no recollection of the Fiesta Bowl every authorizing such a practice." In one case, the bowl paid $2,600 for Junker and his wife to travel to San Francisco and Napa Valley, Calif. Other trips took family members with Junker to Portland, Las Vegas, a space-shuttle launch in Florida, and various college-football games.

- In 2008, investigators believe, Junker was reimbursed $2,934 for expenses at the Hammer Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine. A bowl board member told investigators that Junker told her "that absent human growth hormone from this medical provider 'he would have a heart attack'," the report states. In 2009, Junker received permission from the same board member to seek reimbursement for a $3,990 Hammer Institute charge.

- Junker used Fiesta Bowl funds to support Catholic causes and organizations. That included "frequent meals" with a neighbor who was a top executive of St. Vincent de Paul's Phoenix chapter, the report says, and the donation of an executive suite at a bowl game valued at $25,000 to a local convent to use for a fundraiser. Junker in 2005 and 2006 was reimbursed $2,500 and $2,750, respectively, for membership dues in Legatus, and organization whose mission is "to study, live and spread the Faith in our business, professional and personal lives," the report says.

- In March 2010, the bowl paid for $75 worth of flowers sent to an admissions official at University of Texas-Austin where Junker's daughter was accepted into the honors program.

- Fiesta Bowl controller Angela Holt told investigators that "Junker has enjoyed 'a large float' on his American Express bill, which she said amounted to a personal interest-free loan until Junker repaid his personal expenses. Holt further noted that the Bowl had no collateral or protections to guarantee Junker's repayment of the amounts."

- In Junker's 2003 performance review, then-board Chairman Leon Levitt, a former Arizona Republic executive, warned Junker to impose stricter internal financial controls, saying, "(N)othing can bring down an organization quicker than sloppy internal controls." He urged Junker to "make sure we are complying with all tax regulations (cars, country clubs . . . )" and to "specifically implement stronger expense-reimbursement procedures and make sure everyone files expense reports on time with proper documentation." The investigative report concludes, however, that "few of Levitt's suggestions were rigorously followed." One bowl accountant told investigators that "the Finance Department at the Bowl is sometimes treated more like a nuisance than an important safeguard by the Bowl staff."

John Zidich, CEO and publisher of The Arizona Republic, has been on the Fiesta Bowl's 25-member board of directors since 2005. He joined the bowl's five-member executive committee in 2010. The Arizona Republic is a Fiesta Bowl sponsor.